Comments Thread For: Usyk vs. Briedis - LIVE Results From Riga, Latvia

[Shrap]

I had it 8-4 for Usyk but with it being Bredis hometown that's actually not bad.

Yeah. It should've been a clean sweep of at least 115-113 (I had 116-112 as well), but at least it isn't some ridiculous hometown cooking.

[chrisJS]

Some fans doesn't understand that Briedis always been #2 in the division. They thought it's gonna be easy for Usyk

You think Gassiev for example would be easier for Usyk? Briedis was excellent. Last fight kind of left a bad taste but he fought a great fight here.

[Just looking]

If he fight this way against Gassiev, he will not go far

[TheUptownKid]

Both gave a quality account of themselves tonight. Usyk lacks the pop of a dorticos but has great skills

[g27region]

You think Gassiev for example would be easier for Usyk? Briedis was excellent. Last fight kind of left a bad taste but he fought a great fight here.

I think Briedis would beat Dorticos and Gassiev, matter of fact this was like a real final fight of the tournament. Gassiev is much slower and not as good on his feet as Briedis, Mairis has better punch selection too, great uppercuts, and probably better ring IQ than Gassiev too. Dorticos is a dark horse.

[Superbee]

Funny how some think Usyk had a bad one under the belt... Briedis countered like an ace in the early stages and that put Usyk on the back foot for the first half of the fight... Give Briedis credits for bringing his A game and making it a close fight...

[RedZmaja]

I always rated Breidis so I'm not surprised by his performance. I think the problem with Usyk is that he just doesn't use his reach and height well enough against these shorter cruiserweigths. He stalks them down but then picks his shots too much which allows shorter quicker guys to counter him. He should just let his hands go more and overwhelm them with his size. Or make them come forward from time to time, use the jab more defensively etc.

[Ajvar]

Briedis showed excellent boxing first 4 rounds. Later he gassed out a little and someone on the place of Usyk probably could finish his opponent from 5-th to 9-th. This is Usyk's lack because his power is mediocre for cruiserweight.

On the other hand Usyk has better stamina exactly because he doesn't loose so much power on power shots like few others do.

[Satir]

technical boxers, different school, pleasure to watch

[RedZmaja]

On the other hand Usyk has better stamina exactly because he doesn't loose so much power on power shots like few others do.

His output is very low, he picks his shots against these smaller guys. That's why he conserves energy.

He just walks down smaller fighters who gas out due to having to keep him away from them. Then Usyk takes over eventually.

I like Usyk more when he fights bigger guys. If you look at his fights from the WSB like for example against the taller and bigger HW Joyce, Usyk looks much more diverse against such opponents, shows much more footwork and cleverness and is more defensively responsible. Against smaller cruiserweights however he looks like some sort of Margarito, just with better defense but with lower output.

I think Usyk matches up better with Gassiev who is also a big guy. Usyk will fight more carefully against Gassiev and overwhelm him with better speed and footwork, something that he doesn't do against smaller faster cruiserweights like Breidis or for example Mchunu.